It Happened at Lakewood Manor

Two workers stumble upon a swarm of ants in a closed section of Lakewood Hotel during construction. They quickly realize the insects are unusually aggressive and dangerous, signaling a threat beneath the building.

The workers attempt to raise the alarm, but they are accidentally buried alive in the process. The discovery confirms a hidden peril at the hotel rather than a simple infestation.

Anthony Fleming and his partner Gloria arrive at Lakewood to haggle with the elderly proprietor over casino plans. They begin negotiations while the situation below grows more ominous.

Foreman Mike Carr and his friend Vince search for the missing workers and instead discover them dead from poisoning. The grim find intensifies the sense of danger surrounding the hotel.

The ants begin to emerge, attacking a boy and killing a hotel cook, while nearly killing Vince as Mike investigates the pit. The escalating assaults show the insects are purposefully targeting people inside the hotel.

Peggy Kenter, a Board of Health inspector, quarantines the hotel, suspecting a virus is at work. Her action blocks visitors and intensifies the effort to identify the threat.

Mike Carr discovers an immense ant nest in the pit and concludes these insects are responsible for the attacks. The nest presence explains the scale of the problem beneath the hotel.

Tom, a BOH researcher, discovers that the ants are highly venomous and resistant to insecticides. His findings indicate traditional fixes will not stop the infestation.

By this time, the ants swarm the hotel by the millions, killing Gloria's assistant White and driving Carr, Valerie, Ethel, Fleming, and others upstairs. The building is placed under siege as the residents scramble for safety.

Authorities attempt to contain the ants with a trench, filling it first with water and then with burning gasoline after Tom points out that army ants cross streams on bridges built from ant corpses. The plan aims to create an impassable barrier to the colony.

Rescuers arrive and begin evacuating most of the people trapped inside the hotel. The combined efforts of containment and rescue gradually reduce the immediate danger.

Carr, Valerie, and Fleming are the only ones left, cornered by the relentless ants. Tom advises them to stay perfectly still to avoid provoking an attack.

Fleming panics and launches himself from the room balcony toward the pool in a desperate escape attempt, but misses the jump and dies in the fall. His death underscores the hopelessness of the situation.

Two suited-up rescuers arrive and take Carr and Valerie to safety. They are removed from the danger while the hotel remains menaced by the swarming insects.

Tom reassures Carr that such a case will not likely recur. He notes that the unique environmental conditions at the Lakewood estate were vital for the ants' nest to exist.